Sunday, June 1, 2008

Getting a Tattoo... maybe

One thing that blew my mind out here in LA is the amount of tattoos people have. Back East tattoos are generally seen as kind of trashy. Most people have them on arms, ankles, or other secretive and easy to hide spots. I think walking around LA and seeing everyone with sleeves, back tattoos and such has accustomed my to tattoos. At first I never really wanted a tattoo, I liked my body as a blank page (a very white blank page). I also never had anything I wanted on my body permanently badly enough. But after some time pondering the I think I may have found something. My brother (who has three sizable tattoos) has a good rule of thumb: if you think you want a tattoo wait a year, and if you still want it after a whole year go for it. So I guess the count-down begins.

I would get it down my left side, on my ribs. I know that's supposed to hurt the most, but in a way I kind of like that- I also like that it's fairly hidden. I'd get 'Invictus' in block Roman lettering. It means "unconquered" in Latin, and is also the title to a poem by William Ernest Henley. I first came across the poem when I was attending the Colorado Outward Bound School when I was fourteen or fifteen. Since I was young I've kept a journal of some of my favorite quotes, poems, and sayings that I come across; looking through it the other day I ran across 'Invictus' again. Researching the poem through wikipedia, I found out a bit more about the author William Ernest Henley. At the age of 12 Henley contracted tuberculosis of the bone. He had to get it amputated, and he wrote 'Invictus' while in bed at the hospital.

I found the poem at a rocky time in my life, and it taught me to persevere, and that an iron will is the hardest material in the world.

2 comments:

I think he only contracted TB when he was twelve, and wrote the poem when he was older. But most likely he wrote it around our age, which is still pretty damn impressive. Beats the hell out of what I've written :(